Model and actress Olwen Kelly is winning rave reviews for her breakthrough role in the movie The Autopsy of Jane Doe.

The horror picture also stars Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch but its the Celbridge woman's unorthodox performance as a corpse that's getting the critics talking.

A number of publications have singled her out for praise following the movie's premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, including Variety who said that "Kelly deserves applause of a different kind for enduring a role which must have required the patience of Job."

Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on RTE Radio One, the former NUI Maynooth student said she relied on her experience in yoga and mediation to help her lie perfectly still as the action took place around her.

"It was essentially five weeks lying still and that was a feat in itself," she said.

"At the time I was doing quite a lot of yoga and meditation which sounds a bit ridiculous but it really did help. Even when I started doing yoga and meditating I couldn't do it for longer than a minute before my mind started getting bored, and of course when you start getting bored and you're trying to lie still you're inadvertently starting to twitch.

In the movie, Jane Doe’s (Kelly) body was found at a scene of a multiple homicide, with no explanation of how she got there. Her 'corpse' appears in a number of scenes as father and son (Cos and Hirsch) try to figure out what happened to her.

The young Irish actress moved to London after she completed her degree in science four and a half years ago to pursue a career in modelling. She credits her experience in that industry in helping her with her latest role.

"I did have to be very aware of my own body and I guess having worked as a model you are quite in control of your body but now thinking back on it I'm wondering how did I lie there for so long?"

Kelly has more acting gigs coming up and is eyeing a move to Hollywood, saying she "definitely wants to get over to LA".

She added: "I've got another film coming out later this year in Ireland which is called Darkness on the Edge of Town, and I am living in that!"